St Jude's Is ready for 2013 and the future

03-Feb-2013

It’s the start of a new academic year at The School of St
Jude. The students are either embarking on or continuing their St Jude’s
journey that we believe will prepare them with the necessary knowledge and
critical-thinking skills to tackle life’s ever-evolving challenges. It is the
school’s mission to educate and mentor well-rounded students who are ready to
elevate themselves, their community and their country to a level free from poverty.

In a mere two years our oldest students will become the
inaugural graduating class from the secondary school. By 2014 St Jude’s will
have a full primary and secondary campus, educating close to 2,000 students
from Year 1 to Year 12. It’s an extraordinary accomplishment that has only been
made possible by donors, sponsors and supporters from around the world. The
staff should also take immense pride of the difference they’ve made in these
young lives and continue to make. This school has given a lifeline to a fortunate
few who needed it most.

But we’re not done. Not by a mile. Not when only a pithy 41
percent of Tanzanian school children advance to secondary school. Not when one
teacher in a government school classroom has to teach 51 students with only a
few battered textbooks. Not when half of Tanzanian girls drop out of school
because of poor water supply and sanitation. Not when bribery and corruption
are still the norm. Not when the national poverty rate is 33 percent of the
population (in 2007). Not when life
expectancy is just 58 years old.

It’s exhausting thinking about all the people suffering in Tanzania, in East Africa,
on the African continent and everywhere else. Families and communities plagued
by civil unrest, terrorism, oppression, slavery, natural and economic disasters
– the list is endless.

This is why The School of St Jude is now more important than
ever. Education is our contribution to the world, that through education we can
solve the difficult, complex problems. Open a child’s eyes to the world and its
possibilities, and see where it takes them – we hope further and farther than
they ever dreamed possible.

St Jude’s has always thought long-term about the future, and
we thank everyone who has stood by us, supported us and sang our school song.
We thank all the new people who have yet to join us, to wave the St Jude’s flag
and believe that an education given to a determined, hard-working individual is
the first step in making this world a better, safer place.

With the Kilimanjaro winds behind our sails, St Jude’s
pushes further on in 2013.